Mission I'Mpossible

Curriculum Statement

At Harlands we recognise and value the uniqueness of our children and are constantly searching for ways we can nurture and develop their individual strengths.  One way we are working hard to do this is by develop ‘pupil agency’.  This means we are giving the children more ownership of the work they do and how they do it.  We want our children to be independent, resilient learners; capable of being critical thinkers – confident, self-motivated and able to problem solve.  Ultimately, we want our children to be lifelong learners with a growth mind-set.  Our Mission I’Mpossible is an area that we are developing to not only develop this ‘pupil agency’, but also to provide the opportunity for quality coaching to take place.

Intent

• To develop more independent and resilient learners through enabling our children to be in control of their learning.
• To create a child-centred environment and focus on ensuring all learners meet their full potential within the classroom and the future.
• To have learners find their own achievements from goals they have set themselves and celebrating this.
  To have a clear mind-set on their individual learning.
• To have learners personalize their education to tailor their own individual needs and abilities, with the help of the coach (teacher).
• To coach learners and support them in every step to develop their knowledge and skills.

Implementation

To strive towards the intent for Mission I’Mpossible we firstly focus on pre-teaching of certain areas within the curriculum to underpin key concepts and foundational knowledge.  The learners are introduced to the theme of the mission and the key question that will be the focus.  Following on from this, pre-teaching then takes place before the child-led learning can begin.  When the foundations of knowledge have been cemented coaches (teachers) will then set clear expectations of what needs to be achieved through different learning challenges; Bronze, Silver, Gold and Platinum.  Once this has been discussed with the class, learners will then self-select a task relating to the theme of the missions - our topic focus - and start their challenge. During the independent learning sessions, the class teacher provides coaching sessions either 1:1 or in small groups. In these coaching sessions, the coach will discuss with the learner:

• How they are being challenged?
• What they think their new learning goals should be?
• How will they move towards their goal?
• What are their positives from school life?
• Improvements can they make in regards to school life for the future?

 The learner then completes their Learning Log to show their journey through the mission.

Learning challenges:

Virtual Learning Journals - ‘Google Sits’ via Google Classroom: (Example)

Impact

We believe that every child has the potential to have greater independence and resilience.  Mission I’Mpossible is aiding children to achieve this by thinking through decisions and using problem solving skills, readying them for their future.  During their time participating in the missions they start to gain a deeper understanding of content covered in mission work, whilst gaining great pride from creating work independently.  Due to the use of ‘pupil agency’ that these sessions need, children show increased engagement and understanding of their work due to the sense of ownership it brings.  Finally, the children have a focused small group session to discuss their learning in detail and to guide them to build further on this and growth made.

Updated April 2022